The Lemont Block was the de facto meeting place for many of Brunswick’s events, celebrations, lectures and ceremonies for over one hundred years. Many of the town’s first organizations and institutions that carry-forward into the present day were formed, including the founding of the Village Improvement Association which was created within the hall in 1878. Sometimes the hall would be used for celebrations like dances, like the Fire Muster’s Ball to help raise money for the Brunswick / Topsham fire departments, held in March 1914.

Maine Street in Brunswick simply would not look the same without the famous Lemont Block building as its backdrop. Looking at the former Brunswick Town Hall reminds us of what can happen when a community is not galvanized to protect its historic buildings. In the Brunswick 150-Year Celebration in 1889, the Lemont Block building is predominantly featured standing beside the Old Town Hall, both draped with streamers, the dirt thoroughfare lined with townspeople. It’s important to preserve and cherish these architectural vestiges of our history.

The Lemont Block has long been at the center of community and culture in Brunswick from its initial construction. Written in the year after its construction, the April 3, 1871 edition of the Bowdoin Orient states, “Nothing which has been done in Brunswick for many years has been productive of so much benefit to the town, and the pleasure to the students, as the erection of the Lemont Hall.”